But he also weighed in on a lot of other subjects in a wide-ranging press conference today, taking some tough questions, including from our own chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl. Reporter: President obama had a clear message for the american people today. There will be no rush to military action in syria. For one thing, the evidence is incomplete. What we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria, but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. Reporter: On the domestic front, the president is only 100 days into his second term, and he has already faced a string of defeats in congress on guns and -- do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? Well, if you put it that way, jonathan, maybe I should just pack up and go home. Golly, as mark twain said, you know, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point. Reporter: The problem, he said, is with congress. Jonathan, you seem to suggest that somehow these folks over there have no responsibilities, and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. That's their job. Reporter: After today's press conference, a senior white house official told me the real source of the president's juice is the american people. And on the big issue this white house believes, big issues like guns, immigration, and the budget, public opinion is with the president and that that will ultimately get congress to act.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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